The village is named in the Domesday Book as "Barchestune", and the name probably means "the farmstead of a man called Barkr." The Deserted Medieval Village of Ringsthorpe was located just to the west of Barkston, on the other side of the River Witham. Mentioned in the Domesday Book, the latest archaeological discoveries at the site are from the Medieval period, and the last documentary mention is in the 14th century. , built in 1640 and re-built in 1839, provide homes for local elderly people. Barkston railway station was near the of the East Coast Main Line and Sleaford railways.
The present route of the A607 through the village dates from the 1930s. The River Witham passes through the west of the village. At the 2001 census there were 229 households, 100 per cent of the population were white, 87 per cent declared themselves to be Christian, and 20 per cent of the population were retired. To the east, on top of the Jurassic limestone escarpment, RAF Barkston Heath stands next to the course of the Roman RoadErmine Street. The parish boundary crosses the A607 at the northern end of the Syston bypass. It follows to the south of ', crossing the River Witham, the northern side of , and the East Coast Main Line at Shire House, to the west. North of this point are the Barkston South and railway junctions, situated either side of Westfield Farm. They have not been in use since 2004. The boundary follows the northern edge of Hurn Wood, where it meets Marston. Northwards, it crosses the Grantham Avoiding Line at the Sand Lane . It then crosses the East Coast Main Line, the Viking Way eastwards to meet Hougham, and the River Witham, south of Frinkley Plantation. At Far Hill, the boundary leaves the Viking Way, passing northwards through Old Gorse Wood, to the west of the former , crossing '. Eastwards, it briefly meets Carlton Scroop, and at the top of a hill it meets Honington at , passing along the southern edge. Passing to the south-west, it crosses Frinkley Lane, the Viking Way, Hough Road along the southern edge of Grove Plantations, and the Grantham–Sleaford railway line. It crosses the A607 at the A153 junction, passes through north of Heath Farm, tops Honington Heath to meet Ancaster, and runs straight across the middle of RAF Barkston Heath. Along Ermine Street it meets Wilsford and North Kesteven, and is briefly the South Kesteven . At the southern edge of Barkston Heath , it follows ' westwards, and meets Syston. It follows ', at this point a track, along Barkston Heath, passing through Minnett's Wood along Minnett's Hill.
Community
The ecclesiastical parish of Barkston belongs to the Barkston and Hough group of parishes in the Deanery of Loveden and Diocese of Lincoln. The incumbent since 2013 is Rev. Stuart Hadley. The parish church is dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Myra, a philanthropist bishop from whom the legends and customs of Santa Claus derive. St Nicholas's Church includes a Norman window, a 14th-century spire and 15th-century porch. The Methodist Chapel in West Street was built as a Wesleyan Methodist chapel in 1832. It closed in 2002, but the congregation continued to meet in the village hall as part of the Grantham and Vale of Belvoir Circuit until 2013. The village pub is The Stag in Church Street, which also serves "locally sourced" food. A mobile library calls once a month, a mobile fish and chip van every Thursday, and a mobile greengrocer every Friday. There is a petrol station with a shop on the main road. Adjacent to it is a hand car wash and a mechanic's garage. Barkston has Girl Guide and Brownie troops, and a mother-and-toddler group. A produce show is held every summer. The village has a cricket club, an indoor bowls team, and an association football team. The latter plays in the Grantham and District League Premier Division since finishing third in the 2007–2008 season in Division One.
